On Saturday, the Cerritos College softball team dropped the first game of their Southern California Regional Playoff series against host San Diego Mesa. That meant the Falcons would have to beat the Olympians twice in Sunday in order to advance to the Super Regional next weekend. They started the day with a 6-1 win, which forced the deciding game, and Cerritos came out quick in that contest. They led by scores of 2-0, 3-2 and 8-3, but saw SD Mesa come back and come away with a 9-8 victory, which ended the season with a 30-12 record.

In the series-deciding game, Cerritos looked to take a comfortable 8-3 lead after a two-out grand slam by sophomore shortstop Ashley Miller (West Torrance HS/North Platte, NE CC) off pitcher Kylie Diaz in the bottom of the fourth inning. But the Falcons would only be able to record one more hit the rest of the game and had runners at first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning with a chance to tie the game. Sophomore outfielder Aubrey Formano (St. Paul HS/Fullerton College) popped up before Miller flew out to end the game.

The Olympians started their comeback with a single run in the sixth inning and then tied the contest with three more in the top of the seventh inning off freshman pitcher Jamie Ramirez (El Rancho HS). The inning started with a single and two walks to load the bases, followed by a two-run single from Alanna Hille and a sacrifice fly from Brittany Kamfonik. Alexandra Mootry opened the top of the eighth with a solo home run, which turned out to be the series-winning hit.

Cerritos broke open a scoreless game to start with day with a three runs in the top of the fifth inning, thanks to a bases loaded throwing error by Hille that scored two runs. Formano added an RBI on an infield out. Sophomore catcher Katie Caraballo (El Rancho HS/Fullerton College) clubbed a solo home run in the sixth inning, with freshman third baseman Ariana Mejia (Gahr HS) and freshman outfielder Stephanie Olivas (Warren HS) each contributing run-scoring hits to finish off the win.

Photo by Daryl Peterson